Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has tried to dissuade his players from
moving to the Premier League by claiming "English women do not wash
their genitalia."

With several Napoli players attracting interest from English clubs, the Serie A side risk having their season ruined by high-profile departures next month – a situation which prompted De Laurentiis' remarkable rant.

"If they want to go to England then in the end they're going to go" he said. "But they need to understand this: the English live badly, eat badly and their women do not wash their genitalia. To them, a bidet is a mystery."

Despite recent improvements, the English diet remains something of a laughing stock among many Italians. Fabio Capello, England's Italian manager, has spoken about his surprise at the amount of chips and tomato ketchup consumed by top players.

But the comments about poor hygiene among English women though are more of a surprise, particularly as English football WAGs are thought to spend a great deal of time and effort preparing to leave the house each day.

Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik, Walter Gargano and Fabiano Santacroce have been linked with Premier League moves after helping Napoli to third spot in Serie A. And Laurentiis clearly feels his club are due some loyalty.

"We made these players," he said. "Two years ago nobody knew who they were."

De Laurentiis, who made his fortune as a film producer, is one of Italy's most recognisable and controversial chairmen.

One of his most infamous works was a production called Il Petomane (The Fart Maniac). The film was based on the true story of Frenchman Joseph Pujol, who achieved stage fame in the 1890s for a flatulence-based act based around his ability to break wind at will.